


Weren't Rules Made to Be Broken?

by YoungLion (CastielsShockBlanket)



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Epic Friendship, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Humor, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2017-08-04
Packaged: 2018-12-10 23:06:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11701761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CastielsShockBlanket/pseuds/YoungLion
Summary: The Enterprise has an inspection, and Captain Kirk and his crew need to do some preparations. After all, the best running ship in Starfleet certainly didn't get there by following the rules; but Starfleet can't know that. The whole crew is suddenly under instruction to pay a little more attention to regulations. And, to top it all off, the Enterprise is now dealing with a potentially hostile alien ship.





	Weren't Rules Made to Be Broken?

The highest ranking officers of the  _U.S.S. Enterprise_ were all gathered around a single table in the meeting room, waiting on Captain Kirk. Doctor McCoy was seated next to Montgomery Scott, and next to him sat Lieutenants Uhura and Sulu, beside them Commander Scott, and an empty seat at the head of the table. 

McCoy was focussed on the table in front of him, frowning with all the intensity of a man trying to unscrew a corkscrew with telekinesis. 

"Something wrong, Len?" Uhura asked, tilting her head to the side a little. 

McCoy looked up, a little shocked to be pulled away from his thoughts, and shook his head. "Just wondering what the hell's going on," he replied vaguely, giving a half-assed shrug of his shoulders. "Jim called this meeting for  _all_ the senior officers, and none of us know what for? Can't be anything good." 

"Nice to know you have such strong faith in me, Bones." 

Everyone turned to spot Jim standing in the doorway with a smile that was one part arrogant, but two parts charming. Used to this by now, McCoy simply rolled his eyes and raised an unimpressed eyebrow in his friend's direction. Mirroring the doctor, Uhura cleared her throat and asked, "Were you only late to the meeting  _you_ called so you could make a dramatic entrance?" 

Jim laughed and shook his head as he made his way over to his seat. "I wish," he answered, pulling out the chair and dropping lazily into it, like he was sitting on a sofa at home to play video games and eat pizza, rather than holding a meeting of top officers on the best ship in Starfleet. He leaned back and said, "No, I was late 'cause I was finishing up a call with Pike." Then, realizing he'd forgotten to use titles, he added, "Er,  _Admiral_ Pike."

Somehow catching on immediately, McCoy leaned forward and started, "Wait, does this mean what I think it means?" 

"That depends what you think it means," Jim said, avoiding the question. 

"I take it the Admiral had something of importance, and that is the reason for this meeting?" Spock asked.

"Absolutely," Jim agreed, nodding. He leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table and adding, "Good news and bad news. Which should we go with first?"

"I fail to see how the nature of the news affects the order in which we should address it," Spock answered. 

"Let's go with bad news," Uhura said, rolling her eyes but with a slight upturn of her lips. 

"Good choice," Jim said, pointing an index finger in her direction with a joking wink. "The bad news is, and let me finish before you all start complaining, we have an inspection coming up--" he started, suddenly cut off by Scotty and McCoy's annoyed groans, and a scoff from Sulu. He shook his head, ignoring their sounds of frustration to continue, "But the good news is, the inspection's not until we rendezvous with the  _U.S.S Intrepid,_ so we have a good three days to prepare." 

Sulu blinked at him. "You should've said we had bad news and bad news." 

Scotty nodded his agreement, glancing over at Sulu and then back to Jim. "I dinnae know anyone who thinks a wee three days is long enough for tha'." 

"Pessimists, the lot of you," Jim said, waving a dismissive hand with the confidence level of a small, barking dog that seemed to have forgotten its size. He leaned back once more in his seat, surveying the room momentarily and waiting for anymore cynical feedback from the crew. Then he cleared his throat and, in his business voice, started, "First order of business should be...There's too many orders of business, shit." He ran a hand over his face and let out a long breath, as if he'd only just realized exactly what their upcoming task would be. "Spock, you follow regulations. What's the first order of business?" 

Spock paused, offering his infamous eyebrows raise as if to ask whether they really wanted to go down that hole. "I would recommend a renewed effort be made to use more  _formal_ language," he said, shooting a pointed look at McCoy, Uhura, and Scotty before looking back to Jim. "Swearing, in  _any_ language, certainly needs to be cut back on. The crew could also benefit from using the proper titles, I suggest we start on that immediately, so everyone is in the habit of doing so by the time we pick up the inspector." 

"Yeah, that," Jim seconded. He paused for a second, wondering what else could get them into trouble with Starfleet if it came to notice in the inspection. It wasn't like the crew was bad or anything, in fact they were the best crew a captain could possibly hope for. But the best run ship in the fleet didn't get to be that way by simply  _following the rules_. They followed the ones that counted, sure, but a lot of things called for compromises and whatever to get things to run smoothly. Jim didn't insist on using proper titles, he let people choose whether to use titles or not because he thought a crew should be comfortable around each other, which didn't mean saying  _sir_ or  _ma'am_ or whatever else every time they spoke. He let them swear because, well,  _they were in space._ Some people worked overtime, or took power naps in the rec room, or whatever else they had to do to be the best at their jobs.

Mind made up, Jim gave a small nod before clearing his throat once more. "Alright, here's the plan: We have three days before we pick up the inspector from the  _Intrepid_. Before then, me and Spock'll conduct our own inspection, make sure all our bases are covered. Get everything in order, pass with flying covers, and business as usual as soon as the inspector is off our ship."

**Author's Note:**

> based off a tumblr post, but i'm on mobile rn so i'll add the link later!


End file.
